Last week I was telling you to wait. Now I’ve fired the starting gun: it is time to sow. We are now well past the magic number of 10 growing hours a day, with stronger rays of sunlight and warmer soils, so it’s time to get everything from carrots to cornflowers into the ground.
But a few words of advice: if you are sowing outdoors, check the soil temperature – anything below 10C is too cold for good, steady germination. If you’re wondering whether you need to invest in a proper thermometer, don’t; your hand is just as good. Wiggle your fingers into the soil: if you can’t keep them there for a minute, it’s still too cold.
You can warm up the soil using cloches, fleeces or plastic sheets. The latter, particularly if black, are very good at this, though it still usually takes about two weeks, and in two weeks’ time the sun may be shining anyway. If it’s cold and wet, wait. Covering seeds after sowing with fleece or a cloche can make a huge difference, so if you have them, use them.
However, any sort of cover will entice slugs – they never miss an opportunity to be somewhere warm, damp and near food. It’s worth laying out black plastic sheets, old large cabbage or rhubarb leaves or empty grapefruit or orange halves a few days before sowing, so you can clear a whole round of those pests away before the seedlings are up. They are just as hungry for something sweet and fresh as you are.
As to what to sow, start with the fastest growers – radishes and rocket – as they will give you a good idea of how the climate is at soil level. If these are up in a matter of days, add others: broad beans, or dwarf peas such as Half Pint, Oskar or Meteor, and Japanese-style turnips. Then, as the days grow longer and warmer, corn salads, landcress, lettuces, leeks, kales, spring onions – and Japanese bunching ones too.
If the soil is not too wet, parsley, parsnips and beetroot, swiss chard and spinach beets can go in and, on the warmest days at the end of the month, broccoli raab, summer and autumn caulis, celery and celeriac, brussels sprouts, carrots and tall climbing peas.
Anything that can be sown direct can also be sown in a seed tray or module, which often makes more sense as less is wasted through thinning out. Calendula, cornflowers, sweet peas, borage, Ammi majus, Clarkia, field and Shirley poppies and wildflower mixes can all be sown direct this month too.
But you don’t have to rush. Even if you wait until the end of March, you still won’t be behind. This is a kind month, and every day is filled with opportunities to go forth and scatter.
